Over 100,000 Rally in Egypt for ‘Last Chance Friday’
US Urges Egyptian Military to 'Immediately' Hand Over Rule to Civilian Leadership
The weeklong protests in Tahrir Square have returned to the level of the anti-Mubarak Revolution earlier this year today, with over 100,000 protesters rallying to condemn the Egyptian military junta on what they called “last chance Friday.”
The protesters have been condemning the junta over its confusing and drawn-out election schedule as well as plans to include unchecked military power in the new constitution. The first round of elections is scheduled to begin Monday and the junta has said it will not be delayed.
The junta also came under surprising pressure from the United States today, as officials urged them to immediately hand over power to a civilian government instead of retain its role as “interim” regime through what is likely to be years of elections.
There will apparently be no civilian authority at all when the voting begins on Monday, as the newly appointed Prime Minister Kamal Ganzouri has said he doesn’t expect to have a cabinet in place for quite some time.
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david
November 25th, 2011 at 2:10 pm
Power and Greed, makes most personal in power blind to reality. in middle east you dont lose your seat of power, You lose your head.
John Ellis
November 25th, 2011 at 2:56 pm
Also today not far from Tahrir Square, there was a pro-military rally of over 5,000.
So, if we include most all those in government and all those who are able to enrich themselves upon the misery of citizens because of a dictatorship run by government, we come up with a little over half of society enjoying the way their military brutalizes and plunders society.
And so, the problem is systemic, it has nothing to do with government, and will never end until a majority of the people have an attitude adjustment.
contraviews
November 25th, 2011 at 3:30 pm
The 'litmus test' for any Arab country to be genuinely independant and free from western influences is its stance on the Palestinian question; to break the illegal blockade and open the border between Egypt and Gaza and permit the free flow of goods, humanitarian and medical aid into the strip.
John Ellis
November 25th, 2011 at 4:18 pm
THREE FACTS = COUNTER-REVOLUTION
(1) Last Saturday, without provocation and with less then 100 in Tahrir Square, security police attacked with the greatest brutality ever, continued the deadly onslaught non-stop for six days and suddenly stopped before the Friday mass protest.
(2) Poisonous teargas that may only be used in war was mixed in with the regular teargas, it was five times thicker then normal and Tahrir Square had visibility of less then two feet a great deal of the time. Over a dozen protesters were murdered by the gas.
(3) Total murdered was over 40 with at least 23 shot dead with live ammunition. A reporter for FlashPoints said that the police were not trying to drive the protesters out of Tahrir Square, but intent on killing, maiming and terrorizing to the maximum extent possible.
So, as a government can only rule when society is in fearful submission to authority, this fits in perfectly with what the rich ruling class is doing worldwide. Namely, an all out war and a genocide on all classes below the rich ruling class.
RockyRococo
November 25th, 2011 at 8:32 pm
And, for extra bonus points, the question raised by this:
"Poisonous teargas that may only be used in war was mixed in with the regular teargas, it was five times thicker then normal and Tahrir Square had visibility of less then two feet a great deal of the time. Over a dozen protesters were murdered by the gas."
is:
"What is the source of this special poisonous gas the Egyptian 'security forces' are using on its own people, killing dozens of them?"
Do we have any guesses?